


I Want to Linger… A Little Longer Here With You

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Black Brothers Reconnecting, Camp Counsellors, Homophobic Language, M/M, Marauders, Marauders' Era, Past Abuse, Prank Wars, Rude Remus, Summer, Summer Camp, camp counselors, enimies to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 22:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7379308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Remus' third year as a counsellor at Camp Hogwarts. He's a little jaded from the experience of having been there for the last two summers. But he loves working with the kids and most of the other counsellors. Except the snobby rich ones of course and there's two new ones in town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m currently working at a day camp and I’m very inspired from relationship drama among the younger counsellors. I can only imagine what overnight camps are like. I want to continue Married At First Sight but it’s just not happening so here's this. One day I want to finish it. I swear. I’m so sorry about it. Enjoy this though.
> 
> The title of the story comes from the campfire song Linger as seen here: http://www.songlyrics.com/girl-scout-songs/linger-lyrics/

“Welcome to Camp Hogwarts. It’s a pleasure to see so many faces returning from last year. There are so many brand new counsellors joining us. We cannot wait to welcome to kids in just five days time, but we have some important business to get down to now.”  
  
That was Remus’ cue to block out Dumbledore. He had gone through all the safety measures and rules a million times. He wasn’t looking forward to the next few days of training and group bonding. But he liked the job when he got it two years previous. It was perfect for a uni student studying to become a teacher. He was dealing with kids from seven years old to fifteen, brushing up on his skills over the summer. Plus, some of his best mates worked at the camp too.  
  
The only thing he hated was dealing with the fact that many of the kids and a handful of the counsellors were snobby rich arseholes. It was a very exclusive camp for a long time then they started offering affordable rates. But the rich kids still came because they had some fantastic programs that their parents wanted to them involved in. Not to mention the tradition of the thing: The camp was split into four “houses” that campers were placed in by taking a test before coming to camp (counsellors too). Most kids wanted to be in the same houses as their mum or dad. Those houses also competed throughout the summer to win the Hogwarts Cup. The campers took it all very seriously.  
  
This year there seemed to be two new pompous jerks joining the staff to go along with Lockhart, Snape, and that one Black sister. One of them had already hit on Lily, his best mate. The other one had some posh twatty air about him. He was phenomenally good looking, but Remus was sure there wasn’t much else there.  
  
“Psst, Moony.” Remus cringed a little at the nickname Gideon had whispered behind him. He had got it after a drunken night two years before where he may have mooned Dolores Umbridge, the wretched director who had taken over in Dumbledores’ absence when he was in hospital.  
  
“Gid?” He muttered back.  
  
“Fab and I are all set up for the most epic party on the face of the planet tonight.”  
  
“I’m sure you are.” The Prewett twins, best known among the other counsellors as the place to go for all prohibited items, also loved throwing a good party or two. The twins had found this old run down shack not too far from camp (some campers called it the shrieking shack after they heard some very inappropriate noises from there one day when they were on a hike). The Prewetts used it to store all their things and hold parties to get away from the kids every so often.  
  
“We’ll be there,” Dorcas said, staring down at her mobile.  
  
“Good.” Gid cuffed him on the shoulder before leaning back in his chair.  
  
Once he survived the mind numbing experience of orientation he was off to his cabin to relax before dinner. This year he was in Hill 1 for Gryffindor with Fabian. They were the younger boys of the house, which Remus seemed to have an easier time dealing with. As the kids got older they had more drama that Remus didn’t want to have to worry about. He got enough relationship drama from listening to his co-workers. They were worse than their charges most of the time.  
  
“New guy's not bad looking,” Fabian commented.  
  
“Which one?” Remus asked while he worked on making his bed.  
  
“Well, they’re both not bad but the one with the manbun.”  
  
“Can we never use that term again.” Remus groaned.  
  
“Yeah, yeah. But you know, the shorter one who looks a bit like a model with pouty lips.”  
  
“He’s all right, but I’m not interested.”  
  
“I’ll go out with him then.”  
  
“Sure and I’ll let Benjy hang you from the rafters in the dining hall by your pants. I would probably lend him a hand.”  
  
Fabian threw up two fingers at him. “I’d never really go for the new bloke. You should think about it. We're going into your third year and you have yet to have a camp fling.”  
  
Remus just shrugged. He never wanted to be a part of the drama at camp. Watching from the sidelines was good enough for him because when it got too much, he could just go off by himself or with the campers. Even if he did want a summer thing, it probably wouldn’t be with Sirius. Surely a bloke so posh looking couldn't be someone who Remus would get on with. He knew he wasn’t supposed to make assumptions about people based on their looks, but sometimes Remus was more judgmental than he liked to admit. But he’d never say any of that out loud (except to maybe Lily), and he never complained when he had his mind changed about people when he got to know them.  
  
“I’m fine. I can survive a summer without shagging someone. I know that sounds mad to you.”  
  
“Whatever, mate, I’m sure both these guys are fantastic, and you’re missing out.”

***

“Then Sirius took the next corner, and we lost the fucking cops!” James Potter, new bloke, was over-enthusiastically sharing another story of mischief that involved Sirius Black, other new bloke. All the counsellors seemed enthralled with the stories, but Remus was more interested in sitting outside the circle that was around the bonfire and having some time to look up at the night sky. He always loved it when he was away from London.  
  
James seemed like an egotistical know-it-all and Sirius was totally playing up the quiet and mysterious thing. Remus was into neither of those, so he decided not to try to get to know either of them. Remus’ friends were interested, though. Except Lily, who seemed to see through James Potter’s bullshit. She was sitting off to the side chatting with Marlene.  
  
“Spare a fag?” A deep voice asked from behind him. He had his back turned to the crowd and had been spacing off, looking up at the night sky.  
  
Remus turned his head to see Sirius standing there with his hands in the pockets of his too tight jeans. Those were going to be impractical for camp, Remus thought.  
  
“No,” Remus said simply as Sirius took a seat next to him. He did his best not to let out an annoyed breath. “You have to stockpile them, so I don’t share. We only get a little time out in the real world every once in a while without the sprogs around.”  
  
“Oh, I have plenty. I’m just trying to make conversation.” Sirius shrugged, looking down at his lap. Remus almost felt bad. “Sorry for Jamie being… er, well, Jamie. He has a tendency to overpower conversation and act like a git when he’s nervous.”  
  
The counsellor shrugged, taking a long drag of his cigarette. He was surprised that Sirius was sitting and talking with him because of how quiet at he had been the whole day.  
  
“So, this is your third year, ah, you said during introductions.” Remus was taken aback at Sirius’ nervous tone.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“You must like it?”  
  
“I want to be a teacher so, yeah, it’s a good gig for me.”  
  
“Brilliant,” Sirius smiled, idly picking at the grass in front of him. “Any sage advice for a rookie, then?”  
  
“Don’t be a prick and don’t let the kids walk all over you.”  
  
“Find a happy medium.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“With co-workers too, then.”  
  
“Sure.” Remus stood up after crushing his cigarette out. “I’m off, tired from the travel from London today and such. See you round.” Remus said without even really looking at Sirius.

***

“Jamie, he fucking hates me,” Sirius complained as he and James made their way back to the cabin they managed to talk Albus into letting them lead themselves. A perk of being alumni. Too bad there wasn’t a perk of getting cute blokes with dimples and honey eyes to give you a time of day.  
  
“It couldn’t have been as bad as Lily and me. If anyone hates anyone, it’s her hating me.”  
  
“He acted like I was gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. I’ve never been brushed off like that.”  
  
“She looks like she actually will murder me. We don’t even have locks on the cabins, so I’m a bit scared she may.”  
  
“You’re a twat! I was perfectly nice to him. I can’t think of anything that I did to make him dislike me.”  
  
Sirius wracked his brain for a moment, thinking back during their whole day when he could have given Remus the wrong impression of himself. But there wasn’t any. Remus seemed completely disconnected throughout the entire day, even when all the counsellors introduced themselves.  
  
Meanwhile, Sirius listened attentively to everything like a good puppy dog. He didn’t want to fuck up the chance Dumbledore was giving him to spend some time with his brother. He hadn’t seen Regulus since he graduated and now his baby brother was 15. He wanted to reconnect with him. He also wanted to connect, hopefully, with this Remus Lupin.  
  
“Maybe he’s not gay.” James offered.  
  
“Even if he’s not, he's not even nice to me. It wasn’t like I was blatantly trying to chat him up like you.”  
  
“You’re so obvious when you fancy someone.”  
  
“I am not.” Sirius huffed as they entered their cabin.  
  
“You shouldn’t even care. You’re here to see Regulus, not find someone to shag.”  
  
Sirius flopped down on the uncomfortable bed. “I know.” He sighed. “What happens if he hates me.” He closed his eyes tight. Sirius just wanted some type of relationship with his brother. They had gotten on so well when Regulus was little, but as they grew older and their horrible mother got to him, Regulus started to spit the same hateful words as the rest of the Black family. He was just as terrible as them all when Sirius was thrown out of the house for being gay.  
  
“He sent you that letter saying he missed you. I don’t think that he hates you. Maybe he realized that all the shite your mum was putting in his ear was just that, shite.”  
  
“I hope so.” Sirius opened his eyes and took a deep breath.  
  
“Look, it’s our first day here, and we both apparently got off on the wrong foot. We can have a better day tomorrow.” James was always so hopeful. Sirius couldn’t wrap his head around that because he spent his life waiting for the worst to happen. It apparently came from how the two were raised.  
  
“Its like first night of camp all over again.” Sirius rolled onto his back.  
  
“Tomorrow will be better, right? We had a great time when we went here after getting over that little bump of feeling the place out. Maybe we could do a prank or something. Turn Malfoy’s hair pink.”  
  
“You know, that’s not a bad idea.” Sirius’ face broke out into a grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Remus nearly dropped his breakfast tray when Lucius Malfoy walked into the dining hall. He was sporting bright pink hair and the biggest scowl on his face.  He wanted to kiss whoever did that and at the same time wished that it was him. Malfoy was one of the biggest jerks that Remus Lupin had met in his entire life. Last year Remus played a few decent pranks on him and the Slytherins with his boys. The Slytherins has the reputation of being the most elitist of all the houses. Remus was surprised that Potter and Black weren’t working there themselves.  
  
“Nice hair, Malfoy,” Remus said as he got closer to the man, going to the table where Lily, Marlene, Fabian, and Benjy were sitting.  
  
“Fuck off, Lupin. I’m sure this was you.”  
  
“No, sadly.” He lent him his fakest smile before getting to his seat.  
  
“Damn, Potter and Black are brilliant,” Fabian said as Dorcas joined the group.  
  
“What? The pink hair was them?” Remus was shocked for the second time. It was far too early in the morning for all of this to be happening now. His opinion on the Malfoy prank completely changed now he knew how did it.  
  
“Gid told me that he bumped into them sneaking down to the Slytherin’s cabin when he was heading back from the Shack.”  
  
Remus frowned because he was supposed to be the prank king of Hogwarts. Since Remus arrived, it was him who came up with the best pranks, not these new blokes. His campers loved being involved in helping get at other cabins with his ideas. Now these two blokes were coming into change everything and disrupt the ecosystem of Hogwarts.  
  
“When they went here they were bloody brilliant with what they did, from what I hear. McGoos apparently gave Albus a piece of her mind when she heard they were coming back. Right terrors they were.” Ben said as Remus spared a piece of tomato with his fork.  
  
“What you going to do to show them that you’re the one who does the pranks around here?”  
  
Remus shrugged. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t planning on doing anything until the sprogs arrived.” He had complied a list of things he wanted to do over the winter and spring. He was going to have to go into that earlier than he assumed he would need to.  
  
“I’m sure you have something good up your sleeve, you always do.”

***

Sirius put his feet up and leaned back against the wall behind him so he could look over the rest of the dining hall. Remus was sitting at the table with most of his mates. The bloke looked murderous since bumping into Malfoy and his pink hair.  
  
“I guess that Lupin’s the new prank guy around here, Pads,” James said, pushing up his rectangle framed glasses up his nose. “I think we fucked up.”  
  
“Maybe it made him like me more,” Sirius said hopefully, but the look on Remus’ face was saying otherwise. “This prank was supposed to make me feel better about the rejection. Not make the rejection worse.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sorry. You’d think that such a great prank would get his attention and make him want to get to know you a bit.”  
  
Sirius sighed. “Whatever. Lily probably hates you even more than Remus dislikes me. She’s the head counselor of the Gryffindor girls, so I’m sure she’s a goody two-shoes.”  
  
“You know what, fuck it, let’s not try to impress them. Let’s be ourselves. Everyone seems to like us. They're just sticks in the mud.”  
  
“Okay, grandpa.” Sirius stood up. “I’m going to go for a swim before we have to sit through more lectures.” He needed to blow off some steam. Only four days before Regulus arrived and he had screwed up with the best-looking staff member. He needed to stop and take a deep breath. Some alone time in the water would do him some good.  
  
“Suit yourself, mate.” James waved him off as Gideon Prewett approached the table. More than likely to give them praise for their prank but Sirius didn’t stick around to find out.

***

“The ropes course. Something that is both loved and hated by campers and counsellors alike.” Hooch said loftily. “I’ll be pairing you off, and you must work with your partner to make it across the line.”  
  
Remus looked over at Lily, who crossed her fingers and bit her lip. For all of her fearlessness, she was petrified of heights. This was her least favorite activity of group bonding because they did the same thing each year. You had to lean on one another to make it all the way across the rope. Remus hoped that he got her because at least he’d try to help take her mind off of it.  
  
Of course, he didn’t have that kind of luck because he managed to get paired up with Sirius Black. “Hooch, our height difference—”  
  
“Will just make you both work harder together, won’t it?” She raised an eyebrow at Remus’ complaint. He knew that he would get nowhere with her by complaining, so he shut his mouth and stood quietly as Sirius came over to stand a little closer to him. Lily didn’t get lucky either, as she was stuck with James Potter, who was preening like a bloody peacock. Remus had to wonder if they had set up the whole thing with Hooch.  
  
“Potter. Evans. You’re up first.” She barked the orders and soon the two were getting their gear on.  
  
“Potter if you fuck this up I’m going to murder you,” Lily complained as she climbed the ladder. Her hands were shaking, but she was doing her best to appear as if they whole thing didn’t bother her.  
  
To everyone’s amazement, the two made it across the ropes. The entire way down Lily was giving James strict instructions, and the man didn’t once not listen to her. Or even suggest anything because Lily knew what it took to get all the way across the rope and be done with her fear quickly. He did crack a joke that Remus didn’t hear at the end, which made Lily throw her helmet at him.  
  
After a few more pairs it was Remus and Sirius’ turn. Remus climbed with ease. He loved the ropes course and enjoyed the falling part. He could tell that Sirius was terrified. Even more so than Lily. Or Sirius was just trying to get some sympathy from Remus. Soon enough they were gripping each other’s hands, leaning into one another.  
  
“You’re really bloody tall,” Sirius said through a shaky breath.  
  
“Astute observation,”  Remus spoke dryly as they inched towards the other beam. “Nice work with the hair dye.”  
  
“Were you impressed?” Sirius almost sounded hopeful.  
  
“Why would I be? I’ve done better.”  
  
“You have?”  
  
“Yeah.” Remus gritted his teeth as he nearly lost balance.  
  
“I’m looking forward to seeing your work.”  
  
“Careful what you wish for,” Remus smiled before letting go of Sirius and letting himself fall back. He was already planning on how to start pranking Sirius.  
  
Sirius’ shriek was a bit funny.

***

Sirius was ready for the day to end by the time they were dismissed from campfire songs. After nearly dying on the ropes course he almost choked to death at lunch on his sandwich. Then he had to sit through courses on how to deal with various issues his campers might have. At dinner, James made a fool of himself in front of Lily by trying to tell a joke that went over terribly. Finally, he had to sing old camp songs around the fire with an overenthusiastic Hestia leading the way.  
  
“I’m just ready to fall into bed and sleep for a year.”  
  
“We’re canoeing tomorrow and camping out on that island on the loch.” James reminded him as they finally got to their cabin.  
  
“Oh joy, more bonding,” Sirius muttered. “I’m starting to think this was a big mistake. I actually can’t wait for Reg to get here.” He threw himself onto the bed. When he hit the mattress, it fell right through the frame and onto the floor. “Remus Bloody Lupin!” He yelled before sitting up. “That bastard.”  
  
“Twenty-hour hours ago you were trying to shag him.” James held out a hand to pull Sirius up and out of the middle of the bed frame. “How did he even do that?”  
  
“He tried to kill me on the rope thing and now this. I hate him, no more fancying him. Prank War. I’m calling it right now. He’s not going to know what hit him.”  
  
“There’s the Sirius Black I know,” James grinned wildly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get a real chance to reread this thoroughly but I did run it through my text editor so I hope there's not too many mistakes. I hope I can update this a little quicker this week but I'm in the middle of studying for a certification test that involves math so this month it may be a little slow right now.

The next few days were surprisingly uneventful between Remus and Sirius. They made it peacefully through the rest of training and group bonding with little more than exchanged glances. Remus knew that he started something with the whole deconstructing Sirius’ bed, but he didn’t know what to expect. He was sure that the other man was making him wait so he would become suspicious of everything. As much as Remus tried not to let that happen, it did.  
  
For instance, when they were at the overnight canoeing team bonding, Remus had the hardest time relaxing at night. Around the campfire, he kept a close eye on both Black and Potter. When Remus went to bed, he barely slept because he could think of so many things that they could do in his sleep there. Even at camp, he refused to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He was probably going to end up with a kidney infection or something. He kept his eyes open for everything when he went into his cabin or any of the other buildings on site. He didn’t like this whole mental game. He was just ready for the prank.  
  
It finally did happen. The morning the campers were set to start arriving Remus woke up to start the day. He was set to start greeting his sprogs in an hour. But when he went to change his clothes, they were nowhere to be found. He couldn’t exactly welcome his campers in boxers and a Tallest Man on Earth tee-shirt.  
  
“Of course,” Remus ran a hand through his curls.  
  
“What?” Fabian said with a yawn.  
  
“Black stole my clothes.”  
  
“Mmm.” Fab rolled back over as Remus flung the door to the cabin open to find Sirius sitting on the steps with a shit-eating grin.  
  
“Where are my clothes?” Remus tried his best not to show his annoyance, but it was boiling right under the surface.  
  
“There’s canoe tied to the buoy in the lake.” Sirius moved to Remus could get by him.  
  
Without another word Remus stomped off and headed straight to the lake. Thankfully it wasn’t that much of a trek from his cabin. Of course Black would pull his retaliatory prank on an important day, why would he not? Remus was trying to think of the best way to get back at him as he ran barefoot on his mission to get his clothes back. He could see the canoe out in a swimmable distance as he approached the shore.  
  
As he was swimming towards the canoe, he glanced back to see Sirius and James at the edge of the lake with big grins plastered on their faces. He furrowed his brow and continued to swim. When he got to the canoe, he found it empty. “What the fuck!?” Remus yelled and threw his hand up in the air.  
  
“You didn’t let me finish talking!” Sirius’s voice rang out across the lake. “They’re actually in a few bags hanging from the tree outside your cabin! Bye!” He waved before grabbing James and running off.  
  
“Fucking… ugh!” Remus hit the water with both hands.

***

“He’s going to hate you now.” James snickered as they made their way to the dining hall for breakfast.  
  
“I don’t give a shit.” Sirius scoffed, opening the door for James to go in. “He’s a bastard and deserves it.”  
  
“What’s next?”  
  
“We have to wait for retaliation. That’s the rule of a Prank War.”  
  
“Right, I forgot about the rules of engagement. It’s been so long.” James nodded with a knowing look on his face. They hadn’t played any pranks in Uni. James was busy studying law in some accelerated program, and Sirius was busy trying to find a major that he could settle into. They didn’t have much free time to set up epic pranks as they did before. “Oddly enough I’m looking forward to what he has up his sleeve.”  
  
“I’m sure it’s something entertaining.” Sirius huffed. He still didn’t understand why Remus started out hating him, and it was eating away at him. But he had more important things to deal with at the moment. He doubted that Remus would find time to strike while the campers were coming to settle in, so Sirius decided to focus mentally on seeing Regulus for the first time in about two years.  
  
Following breakfast, where Remus seemed to have missed the whole thing, Sirius went to his bunk to start greeting the campers. Once they all arrived and were settling in, James told him to get out and find Regulus because he couldn’t take Sirius looking out the window every two minutes. Regulus was about a five-minute walk away in the Ravenclaw cabins. Just as when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, the Blacks were upset about it because every other Black had been a Slytherin.  
  
When Sirius turned the bend to head down the hill to Ravenclaw, he bumped right into Regulus snogging someone. “Reggie!” Sirius yelped at his little brother.  
  
“Sirius!” Regulus jumped back from the redhead he had been in the arms of a moment ago. “This is not how I wanted to greet you.”  
  
“Well, you shouldn’t be snogging on the path!” Sirius waved his hands around. At least this broke some of the tension there probably would have been, Sirius thought.  
  
The redhead was looking down at his feet with his hands stuffed him his pockets. “You look familiar.” Sirius cocked his head to the side looking at the tall, lanky boy. He was wearing combat boots and an earring through one of his ears. It looked very much the opposite of Sirius' buttoned up little brother.  
  
“I’m, ah, Bill… I’m related to the Prewetts. They’re my uncles.” The kid ran a hand through his hair.  
  
Sirius nodded, “No wonder.”  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m just going too…” Bill pointed behind him before giving Regulus a sheepish smile and dashing away.  
  
“This is so awkward.” Regulus put a hand over his face.  
  
“Yeah, I just saw my baby brother getting his face sucked.”  
  
The brothers just looked at one another for a moment, trying to find something to say. Neither of them could come up with anything good. “So, you’re gay?” Sirius smiled. He couldn’t help himself.  
  
“Yeah, I know.” Reg picked at his nails. “I’m bi, not gay. But, whatever.”  
  
“So, I guess Mummy and Father have no idea. That’s what got me tossed out for good.” Sirius said. He didn’t want to bring up that Regulus had agreed with them at that point in time. Apparently, things had changed.  
  
“Ironic, or whatever, yeah.” Reg shrugged. “Sorry, I was a little shite.”  
  
“You were a kid and listened to their bull.” Sirius took a deep breath James had been right. He looked around to make sure no one was around. “Are they… have they hurt you at all?”  
  
“Oh, no, I’m rather a perfect child to them. They’ve no idea what happens at school and here.” Regulus bit his lip.  
  
“God, I’m… well, it’s shite, but I’m glad that you’re okay there.”  
  
“Thank god I’m not there most of the year,” Reg smiled.  
  
“Good, you’re going to be leaving there for good soon enough and you know if you ever need me. I’ll be there, you know? I know we didn’t talk for some time but, yeah…”  
  
“Yeah. This is going to be a good summer. I can’t believe you’re here, and you’re a counsellor.”  
  
“Yeah, I can’t believe it either. Want to hear about the prank that I pulled on my new enemy?”  
  
“Yeah. Can I help with the next one?”  
  
“Sure.” Sirius nudged him. He couldn’t believe that he had so much hesitation because it just felt so right with his brother.

***

A few days into camp and Sirius was in a nice little routine. He spent most of his time with his cabin, as he should, but he also got to hang out with his brother too. He couldn’t believe how easy it was to fall back into the connection he had with Reg. It was like they were little kids all over again.  
  
Remus was also quiet, which Sirius expected. But when he woke up and couldn’t find his clothes a week into camp, he knew immediately it was payback. Unoriginal payback, Sirius thought as he opened his door. But Remus wasn’t there to greet him, as he expected him.  
  
In only his boxers, Sirius made his way through the Gryffindor hill to find no sign of Remus or his cabin. He huffed then strolled through the camp aimlessly, looking for his belongings. When he reached the center, where the dining hall, camp office, and rec center were, Sirius found Remus and his campers saluting the flag. Well, not the flag, some of his clothes. The rest of his clothes were hung up as garland in front of the roof dining hall and rec center.  
  
“Unoriginal.” Sirius started to the flagpole to lower his clothes.  
  
Remus shrugged, “One of the kids came up with the idea. I like getting their creative juices flowing. Come on boys, its breakfast time.” He grinned before leading his group into the dining hall.


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks passed, as did four pranks carried out by both sides. Sirius struck back at Remus for the flag pole by dyeing all of his white official staff shirts a lovely neon green. Remus then decided best revenge for that was lining Sirius’ cabin floors and handles with oil of some sort. The entire cabin was slipping around when they returned from dinner one night. Sirius retaliated by putting salt on Remus’ toothbrush, hand lotion in his hair product, and mayo in his shampoo. Finally, Remus set off Axe bombs in Sirius’ cabin.  
  
Sirius wanted to hate Remus but at the same time, he loved the challenge. He almost felt like they were friends but they never spoke. Unless if it was taunting.  
  
Outside of the pranks, Sirius was doing well rebuilding his relationship with Reg. He also got to see his cousin Tonks, who decided last minute she wanted to come to camp. Through her, he met Fleur, who Sirius was sure Tonks fancied. Bill was also around. They were all good kids, and Sirius liked spending time with them all when James was off making an arse of himself in front of Lily.  
  
Life as a camp counsellor wasn’t bad. Sirius was happy; he was friends with all of the decent counsellors and getting close with his family. He didn’t want his time to end because then he would be back at Uni, which was the last place he wanted to be. He also would have to see Regulus back off to their awful parents. But there was nothing that he could do about it. At least he had about five more weeks to enjoy the sun.  
  
“Do you fancy Remus?” Tonks asked after Sirius had joined her, Bill, Fleur, and Regulus on the dock during free time on a Sunday. Nym’s hair was a shocking pink. Sirius was surprised that Andi would let her do that to her hair. Even though she was his most level-headed cousin, she was still a Black deep down.  
  
Sirius gawked at her. “What are you on about?”  
  
“I’m just saying, you spend a lot of time talking about him.” She shrugged, dipping her feet into the cool water.   
  
“Nym’s right.” Reg piped up. “You two are acting like school boys on the playground who pull pigtails when they like them.”  
  
“Ew, no, boys are dumb, and we all know you shouldn’t be teaching people that others like them when they hurt them.”  
  
“You’re not hurting each other.” Bill reasoned, tilting his head to the side in thought. “You’re just, I don’t know, having a good time it seems. Whenever either of you pulls something you both get excited because you want to know what’s next, or you get to plan what happens next.”  
  
“We hate each other.”  
  
“Mmm, sure you do.” Fleur, the fiery French girl, rolled her eyes. “I think you may ‘ave got off on zee wrong foot as you say.”  
  
“As a counsellor, I shouldn’t be talking about my relationships with you all.” Sirius pulled his hair back.  
  
“Well, two of us are family members. One of them is my boyfriend, and the other is Fleur, who is practically 20.” Regulus leaned back on his hands and looked up to the blue sky. “We’re all sixteen or nearly there. All of us are leaders in training and next year we’ll be training to be counsellors.”  
  
“Either way, I don’t care for Remus. He’s an arsehole, and I’m done talking about him.”  
  
“For the next five minutes,” Tonks murmured. “Can you tell us what your next prank is then?”

***

Remus was sneaking a cigarette right after curfew down by the lake. He was thinking about Sirius and him ridiculous pranks, as he had been doing a lot lately. Remus wondered what the next prank was going to be. Both Remus and his cabin were having so much fun with the whole thing. It was bonding them all.   
  
Remus was also starting to find Sirius to be more than an empty headed and attractive rich boy. He was smart and cunning. Sirius seemed like he was a good friend to Potter. Everyone in camp seemed to like him. Even Lily seemed to be softening to both Black and Potter, which spoke a million words to the type of people they were.  
  
After putting out his cigarette, he headed down the path towards Gryffindor. He found Sirius’ brother and the Prewett’s nephew being chewed out by Malfoy. “You little fagots are not only doing disgusting acts in the woods, but you’re also out past curfew. You’re going to be sorry. We’ll go see Minerva right now.”  
  
“Bugger off Malfoy. If anyone is in trouble, it’s me.” Remus said, coming to stand beside Regulus.  
  
“Lupin, I’d suggest you move along to your cabin.”  
  
“I suggest you do the same.” He folded his arms across his chest. “These two were helping me.”  
  
Malfoy made a disgusted face. “With what?”  
  
“A prank. On Black’s brother.” Remus said quickly.  
  
“Yeah.” Regulus nodded.  
  
“They must have got a bit sidetracked. You know how young love is. You and Narcissa are always, well, you know.”  
  
Malfoy’s face went red. “Either way, you’re all out after curfew.”  
  
“So are you, you moron.” Remus raised an eyebrow. “No one has to know but us, right? So fuck off to your cabin and I’ll make sure these two get back to where they belong.”  
  
“I should have known Sirius being here was going to be a terrible influence on you. I’ll make sure your mother hears about this.”  
  
“No!” Regulus reached up to grab Malfoy’s arm before he walked away.  
  
“She should have known he was here in the first place, but we kept our mouths shut. But now that you’re out here with this other boy, doing what your brother probably taught you then I think its time for the news to get back to her, don’t you?”  
  
Regulus’ face crumpled, and he dropped his hand.  
  
“Like you haven’t done some quote, unquote untoward acts, with Snape.” Remus was doing his best not to punch Malfoy because he knew that if he did, then he’d end up chucked out of camp.  
  
Malfoy didn’t dignify it with an answer. He just walked away.  
  
“If he tells my mother, I’m dead. I’m fucking dead.”  
  
Remus rubbed a hand over his face. This was not how he thought he alone time for the night was going to end.  
  
“She threw Sirius out of the house when he was my age because he was gay. I’m… fuck.” Regulus slumped against Bill.  
  
“We’ll… I don’t know. We’ll figure something out, right? Sirius seemed to make it okay.”  
  
Regulus scoffed. “Sure he has. Everyone I know… they wouldn’t…”  
  
“Hey, you have Sirius now. I’m sure he and Potter would look out for you. If not, you can come run away and sleep on Lily’s and my horrible sofa.” Remus tried to offer with a smile, even though he knew it would do nothing to make him feel better.  
  
“I think, maybe, we should go back to our cabins and try to figure it out in the morning, right?” Bill was clearly at a loss for words. Remus figured no teenager should have to deal with any of this in general so he couldn’t blame him. Remus was at a loss himself.  
  
“Right, maybe your brother will have something to offer.”  
  
“This fucking sucks.”  
  
Remus walked Bill and Regulus back to their respective cabins in silence. The two boys held hands and walked close. Remus walked away a bit when they made it to Regulus’ cabin so they could say good night. Then he and Bill went back to Gryffindor, talking about how shite some of the Slytherins were.  
  
When he opened the door to his cabin, he felt something cold and sticky fall onto the top of his head. Honey. Then when he stepped forward, his hit a string and was soon covered in feathers. Remus couldn’t help but laugh. “Fucking git,” Remus said with absolutely no venom.


	5. Chapter 5

Remus plunked his tray down next to Sirius at the table he, Potter, and a few other counsellors tended to occupy during lunch. “What? Done with the pranks?” Sirius raised a curious eyebrow at the other man.  
  
“No.” Remus turned so he was looked directly at Sirius. Up close he saw how nice those grey eyes were. “Have you talked to your brother today?”  
  
Sirius furrowed his brow. “No, why?”  
  
“Last night I was out, which you know because I was tarred and feathered when I got back. But I found him being talked to by Malfoy and he was with Bill Weasley.”  
  
“Oh no.” The color drained from Sirius’ tanned face.  
  
“I think you should have a chat with your brother. He’s worried what’s going to happen if it gets back to your mum.” Remus said quietly.  
  
“I… thank you.” Sirius bit his lip. “Do you mind if we have a, ah, moratorium on pranks until after I deal with all this? I swear that I won’t pull something, it’s your turn anyway.”   
  
“Yeah, that’s fine. Let me know. It will just give me more time to plan.” Remus grinned before going to stand.  
  
“It’d better be good then.” Sirius returned a smile, and Remus was pretty sure that they were flirting.  
  
“Have a good lunch, Black.” He said before taking his tray and going to his usual table.  
  
Lily was sitting there with an interested look on her face. “What was that about?” She immediately questioned when he took his seat.  
  
“Nothing, I just saw something that I thought he should know about if he hadn’t heard about it already.”  
  
“That was nice of you to do for someone that you apparently hate.”  
  
“I’ve never hated him.” Remus pushed around the mac and cheese on his plate.  
  
“You acted like you did.”  
  
“He just bothered me.”  
  
“Now you like him.”  
  
“I don’t hate him.” He shrugged before glancing back to the table where Sirius was in deep conversation with Potter. Remus felt horrible that the Black brothers seemed so torn up over this. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. Well, coming out was a big deal, but it shouldn’t have been like whatever this was. The whole situation seemed to be on another level, and there was more to it than just some average homophobic parents.  
  
A few days later, Remus was heading to the camp office to have a conversation Minerva about one of his campers who was feeling homesick. When he entered her found who could have only been Mrs Black. She had the same nose and cheekbones as Sirius and Regulus had the same shape of her eyes and mouth. She was also yelling at Dumbledore. “I’m pulling him out of this horrid camp right now! After Sirius, I should have never let Regulus come here.”  
  
“Mrs Black, I’m not sure what the problem is—” A very calm Dumbledore was cut off.  
  
“The problem is that your camp seems to turn my sons into depraved sickos. You even let Sirius work here without alerting us. I had to hear about all this from my niece!”  
  
At that, Remus decided to take off to find Sirius. He could solve his camper problem in a little while.

***

Sirius was playing footie with his campers and a few from Ravenclaw during a free period. He looked up to see Remus Lupin jogging on to the pitch waving for him to come over. “All right lads, you’re playing a man down.” He said to his Gryffindor campers before going over to meet Remus half way.  
  
“What’s up, Lupin?” He had a feeling that it had to do with Regulus. Reg was so upset about Malfoy and Sirius couldn’t blame him. But outside of murder Lucius, Sirius wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t exactly stop anyone for getting the message out to his horrid family.  
  
“Your mother is here to bring Regulus home.”  
  
Sirius was surprised that Walburga hadn’t shown up before because he was at the same camp as her precious Reggie. So to hear that she was there wasn’t exactly a world ender. It would have been for his brother, though. He needed to take care of it. “Where is she?”  
  
“At the camp office. Screaming at Dumbledore and probably Minnie now.” Remus wrung his hands together.  
  
“Thanks. Again.” Sirius patted Remus on the shoulder before going off to the office. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he knew that he needed to do something.  
  
When he came flying into the camp office, he was sure the look that his mother gave him would have killed, if it were possible. She was standing there with Dumbledore and Minerva. Orion was nowhere to be found, probably too busy trying to fuck over another business.  
  
Sirius felt hate immediately bubble up in his gut. He wished that he didn’t have to look at her face, but he needed to do something for his brother. There was no way that he could let Regulus go with her because he’d probably not be able to see the light of day for a very long time. Sirius couldn’t let Reg endure the pain that Sirius had gone through before his mother realized that he was never going to change.  
  
“Ah, there he is.” Walburga sniffed. “How do they let you work around children?”  
  
“Jesus Christ, woman, what decade are we in? Isn’t the whole homosexuals are pedophiles a myth of past?” He stood up straight.  
  
“Regulus would have never—”  
  
“Regulus would have. He was before I even came back in the picture. You can’t take him home.”  
  
She scoffed, “You’re not his keeper.”  
  
“I’m his brother, and I’m protecting him from you. The moment you go home, I’ll alert the correct agency for child abuse. We’re all mandatory reporters, you know? Albus, do you know what happened to me when I was caught snogging a boy? Let’s just say I didn’t get a stern talking to.” Sirius glared at her. “Reg can come live with me. I’ll be his guardian. You’re not taking him home —especially right now.”  
  
Walburga opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words for her.  
  
“Mrs Black, I think we should have a discussion in my office, alone.” Dumbledore pointed to his private quarters.  
  
She followed him in quietly, and the door was shut behind him. Minerva came to stand next to Regulus. “It’s hard, raising a teenager.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“He’s not going to want to listen to you.”  
  
“I’ll do a better job than her.”  
  
“I know.” She smiled. “I’m sorry that you went through that at home. I knew she was hard but…”  
  
“Don’t worry about it, Minnie.” Sirius forced a smile.  
  
“If you need help, you know where to find it.” She gave him the nod before leaving him standing in the middle of the front office alone.  
  
Sirius paced the office for about an hour and a half. He was starting to wonder if Walburga was murdering Dumbledore or what as the second hour started to approached. But both his mother and Dumbledore came out of the office. Albus has a twinkle in his eye and a slight smile, while his mother looked like she was forced to literally ate crow.  
  
“Your mother I returning home and has decided to let you take custody of your brother. They’ll be paperwork coming your way soon enough.” Dumbledore nodded.  
  
Sirius felt ringing in his ears and went a bit fuzzy for a minute. He was going to be raising a teenager when he was barely out of his teens himself. But it was for Regulus’ best. He was going to be able to keep his baby brother safe. “Okay. Um, okay. I need to go find Reg…” He went off.  
  
After searching camp, he finally found that Regulus was out canoeing, so he had to wait until he came back. Sirius kicked at the sand on the shore as he watched his brother out on the lake with the others. “Is everything okay?”  
  
Sirius jumped when he heard Lupin’s voice next to him. “Fine. Yeah. Fine. We’re… yeah, it’s going to be fine.”  
  
Remus smiled. “Right, good. I know we’re not exactly friends or anything but, ah, I thought maybe we could call a truce and join forces.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Sirius furrowed his brow.  
  
“I mean we should get back at Malfoy for being a complete dick.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Yeah. I’ve hated him since I met him, and I know you never liked him but this is just… he deserves to make the last few weeks of camp a living hell.”  
  
“Remus Lupin, you’re a gem.” He gave Remus a toothy grin.


	6. Chapter 6

“All right, I think we should start small and just escalate until the last week of camp. As long as we don’t injure Malfoy or anyone else, Dumbledore won’t kick us out.” Remus reasoned. He and Sirius were having a brainstorming session on the dock with Regulus, Tonk, Bill, Fleur, Lily, James, and the Prewett brothers. After word had spread about what Malfoy did through the small group, they all decided that they wanted to get a little payback. Remus was sure every other counsellor would want to join in too.  
  
“You’re an evil genius,” James commented. “I wish you were at school with us or here at camp, mate.”  
  
“That would have been horrifying,” Lily said.   
  
“Oh Lily flower, it wouldn’t have been that bad. You love us.” Sirius slung an arm around her.  
  
“I love Remus.” She corrected.  
  
Remus heard Tonks mutter something to the other campers. He couldn’t make it out, but he noticed Sirius blush. He decided to ignore it because they were now friends. He wasn’t going to jump into that summer fling Gid and Fab were always on about. He wanted to continue his friendship with Sirius. Remus also wanted to be there for Regulus if he needed it because he was a good kid.  
  
“So what are we doing first?” Bill asked, leaning forward towards the counsellors.  
  
Remus decided that they start with salt on the toothbrush. It was easy and a nice start to the prank evolution that they were going for. Sirius decided that Regulus should do the honors. Following that came toothpaste in his shoes. Each pair. Then was the classic stringing up his pants on the flag pole. Malfoy looked murderous but never did anything to get back at either Sirius, Remus, or Regulus.  
  
“We should take a break,” Remus said to Sirius as they were walking back from the campfire. They had been spending a lot of time together whenever they found the time. James said that Remus was no a Marauder, which apparently was some nerdy thing that they and another friend called themselves in school.  
  
“Why?” Sirius’ brow furrowed.  
  
“Make him squirm.” Remus shrugged. “Mind games, it’s an important tactic.”  
  
“I know, but I hate him so much, I just want to make him suffer every day.”  
  
“We’re playing the long game here, though. I know we’re both creative but we have four more weeks, and I don’t think we have enough for a prank a day.”  
  
“Okay. Fine.” Sirius sighed.  
  
“Good.” Remus nudged him. “We’ll come up with something good, for a say in a week?”  
  
“Yeah, how about we meet at the dock Saturday after curfew?”  
  
“Okay.” Remus ducked his head and smiled. He got a funny feeling in his belly because it appeared that they were going to be meeting alone. But he took a deep breath. Just friends. They were going to be just friends.  
  
“See ya then.” Sirius winked. “Laterz.”  
  
“You’re so gone for him.” Fab laughed next to him.  
  
“I’d say some choice words right now if it weren’t for little ears,” Remus whispered to his co-counsellor.  
  
***  
  
“You’re still attending Eton, you know?” Sirius informed his brother while they sat outside the rec hall. There was some dance on, and all the kids and counsellors were dancings and having a good time. But Sirius needed some air, and when he came out, he found his brother sitting at the side of the building. They ended up having another ‘what it’s going to be like after camp’ talk.  
  
“That’s fine. I want to see my mates.”  
  
“Okay, good.” Sirius picked at his nails. “The Potters are already moving us into a bigger flat for us.” Effie and Monty were eager to help in any way they could. Sirius assured them that they didn’t need to do a thing. He had money from a dead uncle’s inheritance, but they didn’t take no for an answer. Monty owned a lot of real estate so he said that they would be moving their things before they all got home at the end of August.  
  
“Remus going to be moving in with us?” Reg cocked an eyebrow.  
  
“Will you stop it? You’re as bad as Tonks.” Nym said that she was ‘shipping it’ along with most of the other girls at camp. It being Remus and Sirius.  
  
“I’m just saying, you two flirt. A LOT.” Regulus threw his hands up and out to make a point of how much. “I think you flirt more than I flirt with my actual boyfriend.”  
  
“We do not, we’re mates now.”  
  
“You like one another. More than friends.”  
  
“Shut up.”  
  
Regulus chuckled. “I’m so glad you’ve my back now.”  
  
“I always had your back.” Sirius frowned.  
  
“I mean… after, er, you know, how shitty I was to you, you weren’t exactly brother of the year.”  
  
“Reggie, if you came to me when I was still at Eton after all that shite, and you asked me for help, I would have been there. Always, even if you were a little bastard for a stretch there. But we can blame good old Mummy and Father, huh?”  
  
“I was brainwashed, and I’m sorry.”  
  
“You’ve apologized nine hundred times. It’s enough.” Sirius shook his head. “We’re good now. Let’s go back in there and have some fun.”  
  
“Well, I was going to meet Bill out here…”  
  
“No.”  
  
Regulus groaned as Sirius stood up and dragged him inside. Bill was lingering by the door so Sirius made sure the two were well inside before leaving them for Marlene, Fabian, and Dorcas. “Oh, not attached to Moony’s hip?” Marlene questioned.  
  
He glared at her. “Where’s Jamie?” He decided to change the subject.  
  
“Dancing with Lily!” Fabian grabbed his shoulder and spun him around so Sirius could find James ad Lily dancing in the crowd of preteens and teenagers like the dorks that they both were deep down.  
  
“It’s a miracle.”  
  
“He’s been far more tolerable of late than when you two got here,” Dorcas said with a smile. “I think Remus has the same feeling.”  
  
Sirius bit his tongue. He didn’t understand why everyone wanted it to happen so much.  
  
“One OTP down, one more to go!” Tonks yelled as she darted by Sirius to get to the sweets table.  
  
“It’s like a bloody conspiracy.” He huffed.  
  
The dance went on with little more comments to his apparent flirting with Remus. James and Lily spent the whole night tearing up the dance floor and laughing with each other. Sirius spent most of the time making sure none of the kids were getting too handsy like some old school principal. Soon enough it was all over, and everyone was heading back to their cabins.  
  
“So, Evans.” Sirius laughed at James as he got his bed right for the night.  
  
“I know!”  
  
“She must be barmier than I thought she was.”  
  
“Potter and Evans sitting in a tree…” One of the campers started singing, and they all joined in, including Sirius who was the loudest and most exuberant about it.  
  
Once everyone settled into their cabins, and it was lights out, Sirius headed down to the dock to meet with Remus. He wasn’t sure if there were any words for how thankful he was for Remus coming in and letting him know about Reg, Malfoy, and then his mother. If he wasn’t looking out Sirius was sure Regulus wouldn’t be having a good time right now. Sirius was also thankful for his evil mind and lending a hand at getting back at Malfoy. He wasn’t expecting to find a new friend at camp; he was too busy thinking about Reg, but it somehow happened.   
  
Sirius had more than just Remus too. There was Lily, Gid, Fab, Marlene, and Dorcas. He was getting sad that they were over half way through now, and the summer seemed like it was approaching a quick end.  
  
“All right, mate?” Remus questioned him when Sirius found him on the dock.  
  
“Fine, why?”  
  
“You looked a bit down, is all.” He shrugged before dipping his feet into the water.  
  
“Just thinking about how I had no idea I’d enjoy this so much and how it’s going to end.”  
  
“You can keep coming back, you know?”  
  
“Yeah but, I don’t know.” Sirius shrugged. “I’m having a better time than I thought I could have.”  
  
“That’s good, isn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah.” Sirius laughed and ran a hand over his face. “Sorry, I'm a soppy git for no reason.”  
  
“It’s okay.” Remus threw and arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “I’m having a better time than I thought I would too.”  
  
Sirius felt his whole body flush. “Good.”  
  
“Now, what’s next?”


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks slipped by in what felt like a blink of an eye. The pranks were a little more spaced out and included dying Malfoy’s skin blue for a day and getting gum stuck in his hair that he had to shave it off. The man was miserable and accusing Sirius of every prank but thankfully he had no evidence because he and Remus were far too smart.

But they had one more prank they wanted to pull before the campers left because they needed the help of their cabins. “So I have the shaving cream and dye. You got the nails, right?”

“Yeah, Hagrid had a bucket of them.” Sirius nodded. 

It was the night before the last night, and he was sitting on the dock with Remus. They had started meeting there every few days to run down plans and many of times it was alone. They spent most of their time talking about pranks, but they also talked about their lives. Sirius learned about Remus’ love of education and how his mum passed a few years before. Sirius told Remus more about how shitty his family life was and how he found a real home in the Potter’s.

Sirius was beginning to feel even sadder than he had a few weeks back. The reality of everyone going home and separating was starting to come true. Even though he and Remus were going to be in the same city, it was going to be the same. He was sure that once they got back to their real lives at uni, and Sirius started taking care of Regulus, then they’d forget about each other.

“I think we should meet in your cabin right after lights out with the campers. We’ll tell Reg and his friends to be there too. Head down to Malfoy’s cabin and throw those shaving cream bombs.” Remus grinned. They figured it would be the messiest thing they would have to clean up on their last morning together.

“Sounds like a perfect plan.” Sirius sighed. “Moony,” Sirius said, biting his lip. His feelings for Remus had flourished out far past platonic into romantic just as quickly as the weeks melted away. It being the night before the last night, felt like he needed to speak up before he burst.

“Padfoot.” Remus used James’ and Peter’s nickname for him. He was fully embracing being made a Marauder.

“I ah—”

“Shite! Counsellors!”

Both Remus and Sirius jumped up when they heard the voices of campers and then multiple footsteps making a run for it. “Bloody hell.” Remus sighed. “Looks like we should do our job.”

“Yeah, right.” Sirius followed behind the other counsellors, feeling a little defeated.

***

“You all need to run back to the cabins and act like you’ve been sleeping,” Remus whispered the following night. He was addressing the campers who were going to help Sirius and him in their last prank on Malfoy. “I don’t want any of you getting in trouble.”

“All right, let's go.” Sirius clapped his hands together and soon they were off.

Remus and Sirius led the group. They moved through the camp in silence, giving Remus time to think about the night before. He was sure that Sirius was going to spill about having feelings for him. Remus was slightly happy that they were interrupted because Remus was never very good at talking about feelings. He also wasn’t sure if Sirius was just getting romantic because things were coming to a close. He wished that he knew more than two days before camp came to a close.

When they got to the cabin on the Slytherin hill, they surrounded it, two to each window and four to the door. On Sirius’ call, they opened the cans and threw them in then everyone took off. Remus and Sirius ended up running together to the Shack. The plan was to meet a few other counsellors, but there was none to be found when they made it.

“Well, we may as well have a celebratory drink,” Sirius smiled and sauntered over to where the twins hid their liquor.

“That’s going to be one hell of a mess for them to clean up,” Remus grinned, taking a seat on the old sofa.

“You’re so smart, suggesting we’d do it the last night.” Sirius sat next to him with a bottle of whiskey.

“Oh, I know.” Remus sighed. “So, excited to go back to uni?”

“I guess.” Sirius shrugged. “I like it here.”

“Then work in camps or something.”

“No, it’s… I mean the jobs great but it’s mostly the people I’m friends with and stuff.” Sirius bit his lip. “Not that I have any idea what I want to be when I grow up, still, but yeah…”

Remus took the bottle from Sirius’ hands and took a large gulp. He had a feeling that he might need it.

“Last night, before those brats interrupted, I um, wanted to tell you that I fancy you.” Sirius took a deep breath. “I know the timing is shite, but I don’t think I could go home to London without you knowing, and we live in the same city and everything. So, I mean, it could work out if we wanted it. But I’d also like just being your mate if you can get past this whole thing.” Sirius said after snatching back the bottle.

“Your timing is really shite.” Remus snorted. “We weren’t mates to start but the last four or five weeks we’ve been and I think you’ve fancied me since before that.”

“Oi, I think you fancy me too.” Sirius accused.

“Of course, I do, you daft bastard.” Remus rolled his eyes. “But I just wish you would have told me before.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“Well, I think I’m an idiot too, clearly.” Sirius snickered before relaxing a bit. “So, we can make of go of it, then?”

“I wouldn’t say no,” Remus smiled. “I’m always busy during the school year but, I’m sure I could work in sometime to see you.”

“Oh yeah? That’d be rather nice of you.” Sirius set the bottle aside and turned his body to face Remus’. “I’m doing to be a guardian, you know? That’s not going to be weird?”

“I want to be a teacher, I work with kids, and your brother is pretty great. I don’t mind one bit.” Remus shrugged. “Plus he’s away at school, so it’s not like you’re going to have to be rushing off to get home to watch him or whatever. Plus, he’s a teenager.”

“This is a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”

“Why’d you think I’d make it hard?”

“Because you’re a bastard.” Sirius poked his cheek.

“That’s a nice thing to say to the bloke you’re trying to date.” Remus batted away Sirius’ hand.

“I’m going to kiss you now if that’s okay?”

Remus smiled before turning his head and meeting Sirius’ lips halfway. He wasn’t sure what summer was going to bring when it had started but sitting on a sofa in the shack and snogging Sirius Black after just pulling off brilliant pranks certainly not what he would have predicted. But it was pretty fantastic.


End file.
